Monday, March 7, 2011

The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide 41st Edition

My local comic book store sometimes lets me take a copy of Previews home so I can look through for anything esoteric I might want them to order for me. Last week, as I was flipping through the pages, I cam across this image of Supergirl and Batgirl by Amanda Conner.

That's right, Conner's Supergirl and Batgirl will be on the cover of this year's Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide.

As is always the case with Conner, the picture is just great. I don't understand why Conner isn't on a monthly book somewhere. I know I would consider picking up the book just for her art.

But the cover is interesting for a couple of other reasons. This looks like the Supergirl from Wednesday Comics, a younger appearing Kara with a red skirt and gold-trimmed sleeves. And Batgirl is clearly the Barbara Gordon Batgirl, with the flowing red hair coming out through the collar. I wonder if Conner was told to do a Supergirl/Batgirl cover but was given carte blanche for which incarnation of the characters she wanted. I know I would buy this if it was a print or put on a T-shirt.

It's been a while since I bought an Overstreet guide so this seems like the right time for me to pick one up. This year's Guide also comes with a pretty slick Walt Simonson Thor cover.

Here is a blurb from the article but if you are a Amanda Conner fan you definitely should read the whole thing.

The Supergirl and Batgirl cover for The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #41 is her first cover for the Guide. For her it’s a return to illustrating the younger, Wednesday Comics-style Supergirl, and it’s also the first time she’s drawn the Barbara Gordon-era Batgirl for print.

What differentiates this Supergirl from other the many other iterations of the character over the years? Some of the differences are subtle, yet their cumulative effect is readily detectable.

“When we were doing the story for Wednesday Comics, we were trying to make her a younger version of the character, a teenager around 13-14 years old,” Conner said. This particular Supergirl would be a little less experienced, very eager to do the right thing, and definitely not jaded.

I loved the Supergirl strip in Wednesday Comics and can only hope Palmiotti and Conner will do another Supergirl story in Wednesday Comics 2.

8 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Amanda Conner is my favorite current-day artist, and I have purchased comics I would not otherwise have read just based on a cover from her. Also to be praised is her frequent colorist Paul Mounts, who gives her art such a vibrant, fun feel. The first 12 issues of "Power Girl" are just amazing work, and I highly recommend the two trade-paperback collections. Conner has said that one of the reasons why she doesn't usually do monthly work on an ongoing title is due to how long it takes her to draw, since there's incredible attention to detail. The backgrounds in her Power Girl work are just astounding. DC needs to get her a mini-series ASAP. I would love to see a Supergirl mini-series set in the "Cosmic Adventures" continuity, or a Legion of Super-Pets story.

Thanks so much for alerting me to this image. We need that as a poster.

The web is a big place and sometimes you can miss these little things. while the image is very lo-res, the links to the inked version and the pencils give me the chance to make my own poster size image of it. :D

Its safe to say that Amanda Conner's hands are a national treasure. That Overstreet cover is gorgeous! I agree Aaron, that cover should be made into a poster. I would love Amanda Connor to draw an all ages Supergirl/Batgirl team up miniseries, or make that the theme for Wednesday Comics 2.

Amanda Conner made me into a She-Hulk fan when Mart reviewed Girl Comics #1 one year ago. There are a lot of people who are kicking and screaming for her to draw a She-Hulk comic too.

Thanks, but it's just a reconstruction of a cover by Bruce Tim, I merely took a scan of the cover since I own the comic and re-draw, ink and color it again to mimic the look of the cover. The companion Batgirl cover was almost ordered but later cancelled.